20 Sights In The World That Need To Be On Every Serious Traveler's Bucket List

It's hard to keep up with the next hotspot these days – last year Croatia was popular and you'll be hearing lots more about South Africa and Sri Lanka before 2015 comes to a close. But here's an idea: base your holiday not around countries themselves, but around the mind-blowing sights they're home to. Because while a Bloody Mary with brekkie is a sure-fire sign of a successful holiday, so is checking off, say, the Temples of Angkor in Cambodia or Australia's Great Barrier Reef from your bucket list.

Thankfully, Lonely Planet – who rack up hundreds of thousands of miles each year exploringm, while we're stuck at our desks – just released their 20 best sights in the world. These are the things that need to be on every traveller's bucket list, above renting a VIP table at Blue Marlin.

Museum of Old & New Art, Australia

Just upriver from Tasmania’s capital, Hobart, MONA is the largest privately funded museum in Australia. Housing antiquities, modern and contemporary art, it's got something for everyone – and it's located on the grounds of a winery, so you know what to do if you get bored.

Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

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About 1000km from mainland Ecuador in the Pacific Ocean, you probably heard of the Galapagos in your evolutionary science course (Charles Darwin?). Anyway, it's pretty much the best spot in the world for wildlife observation, with isolated terrain that shelters a diversity of plant and animal species, many found nowhere else. And if animals aren't you're thing, it's got diving and snorkelling galore.

Santorini, Greece

Justin Foulkes

Best known as The Spot Where Your Fiancee Wants To Honeymoon, Santorini's rugged landscape was actually formed by a volcanic eruption in the 16th century. It's two main towns, Fira and Oia, cling to cliffs above an underwater crater and the beaches are made up of lava pebbles. If you can get past the cheese, it's actually pretty cool stuff.

Fiordland National Park, New Zealand

Pete Seaward

The largest of New Zealand's 14 national parks, Fiordland National Park is HUGE. The 12,500 km² of almost untouched landscape is comprised of jagged peaks, glacial valleys, pristine lakes and sheer fjords. If you're the outdoorsy type, you can't miss New Zealand – and this is just the icing on the cake.

Sagrada Familia, Spain

Matt Munro

We probably don't need to say much more than "Barcelona" to get you here, but why not insert a little Gaudi in between €.90 Estrella and nightclubs? While Gaudi architecture is dotted all over the city, the Sagrada Família is surely the most stunning – and is still a work in progress close to 100 years after Gaudí’s death, with architects now working from his original ideas.

British Museum, England

Lonely Planet images

The third most-Googled museum in the world (London'sScience Museum ranks first while London's Natural History Museum is second), the British Museum's collections include the Rosetta Stone (the key to the translation of Egyptian hieroglyphs) and the Elgin Marbles (which once graced the Parthenon). Add a bunch of mummies and sarcophagi and you've got yourself a full afternoon.

Tikal, Guatemala

Justin Foulkes

Tikal is the ruins of an ancient city found in a rainforest in Guatemala. That's probably all we have to say because it sounds DAMN cool. But basically, it's Guatemala’s most significant Mayan ruin site which archaeologists say once rivalled Rome in size, population and political clout. Less than 10% of its buildings have been excavated so there's a good chance you'll be hearing lots more about it in the coming years.

Petra, Jordan

Lonely Planet

Can you imagine an entire city carved out of rock? Famous for its architecture and Indiana Jones action scenes, Petra's rose-coloured ancient temples, tombs and caves were built as early as 312 BCE. Ride a camel, see the sights, tick off your bucket list.

Twelve Apostles, Australia

Lonely Planet

Yes, a collection of limestone stacks off the shore of the Port Campbell National Park has made it onto Lonely Planet's list of the world's must-see sights. Why? They're located on the Great Ocean Road, one of the world’s best drives, about a four-hour trip from Melbourne. Even if you prefer to be the passenger on this road trip, take a look at that pic and tell us you wouldn't Instagram the sh*t out of that.

Fez Medina, Morocco

Lonely Planet

Attention urban planning enthusiasts! Fez Medina, or Fes el Bali, is famous for having the oldest university in the world and, with a total population of 156 000, is also believed to be the biggest car-free urban area in the world. Get lost (no, really, you will) in this labyrinth dating back more than 1000 years that's comprised of approximately 9400 alleyways and 14,000 buildings.

Aya Sofya, Turkey

Lonely Planet

This church, mosque and modern-day museum still dominates the skyline in modern-day Istanbul. How is it all three of those things, you ask? Well that's the charm: you can literally travel through 1500 years of history within its walls. It was initially constructed as a Greek Orthodox cathedral commissioned by Byzantine Emperor Justinian I, who demanded a cathedral bigger and better than anything in Rome. It was then converted to a Roman catholic cathedral in the early 1200s under the Latin Empire, became a mosque in the mid 1400s, and today is a museum. Beat that for an all-in-one history tour.

Alhambra, Spain

Pete Seaward

Dominating the Granada skyline and set against a backdrop of the Sierra Nevada’s snowcapped peaks, the Alhambra is Spain's moorish masterpiece representing 800 years of Muslim rule. It’s the detail and scale that gives the palace it's appeal, as well as being an example of Muslim art in its final European stages in medieval Spain. Once you've done your cultural duty, you'll have well deserved an afternoon on the beaches of nearby Malaga.

Iguazú Falls, Brazil-Argentina

Lonely Planet

Wider than Niagara Falls and Africa's Victoria Falls, you can actually be surrounded by 260 degrees of waterfalls at certain points standing at Iguazú, which courses through both Argentina and Brazil. Translated as “Big Water”, the real way to experience the rapids is by standing directly over the Devil's Throat, the highest and deepest of the falls, accessible from the Argentinian side through a half-mile long trail.

Colosseum, Italy

Lonely Planet

What guy doesn't want to add a trip to the Colosseum, where gladiators met to fight mortal combat, and condemned prisoners fought off wild beasts in front of bloodthirsty crowds, to their bucket list? Add a trip to the Catacombs and you've got yourself a full-day dose of Roman history. Don't forget a plate of homemade spaghetti alla carbonara to wash it all down.

Grand Canyon National Park, USA

Mark Read

The mile-deep, 277-mile-long Grand Canyon isn't just to be gawked at idly: you can also raft the wild Colorado River, hike for miles, spot condors, black bears and elk, or ride around on ATVs in the desert. With Vegas only a drive away, this could be part-alternative stag do of your dreams. You're welcome.

Taj Mahal, India

Pete Seaward

Built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, the Taj has been attracting travellers to India for centuries. It's breathtaking, made with shimmering white marble, thousands of semi-precious stones, carved and inlaid with intricate Islamic patterns in perfect symmetry. We hope you don't have those kinds of expectations for your flat.

Great Wall of China, China

Mark Read

While it's a myth that you can see the Great Wall from space, this fortress of stone that stretches 8850km across northern China, constructed in waves over a period spanning more than a thousand years, does not fail to impress. Make sure you do your research before you go, as there are numerous sections worth visiting, all accessible from Beijing: busy Badaling, scenic Mutianyu, untouched Jinshanling, unkept Huanghua Cheng (a ruined part of the wall with no guard rails but breathtaking views) and Jiankou (the most photographed but also the most unstable).

Machu Picchu, Peru

Philip Lee Harvey

If this photo doesn't convince you that you need to go here, we're not sure we can help. Set high in the Andes Mountains, Machu Picchu was built in the 15th century and later abandoned. But aside from the mind-blowing views and steep drops, the real intrigue of this sight is that no-one really knows what happened here. From a royal retreat to a temple for virgins, theories abound – but one thing's for sure: If you're a hiker, a four-day trek up the Inca Trail's got to be on your bucket list.

Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Matt Munro

Visible from outer space (insane), the 2,300km-long ecosystem is home to thousands of reefs, hundreds of islands, 1500 species of fish, 30 species of whales, dolphins, porpoises and 17 kinds of sea snake. A haven for divers and snorkellers, we can't imagine much more we'd want out of a holiday than an expanse of incredible blue ocean – and maybe some Vegemite on toast, if we're feeling particularly brave.

Temples of Angkor, Cambodia

Mark Read

In a complex of more than 1000 temples, shrines and tombs that forms the largest religious monument in the world, Angkor Wat is the crowning glory. Originally founded as a Hindu temple for the Khmer Empire in the jungles of northern Cambodia, it was gradually transformed into a Buddhist temple toward the end of the 12th century. You may want to be realistic about your agenda, though, and check out this main temple first – it takes around three days to see it all and most travellers quit after about a half day of touristing in the crazy heat.